Thermophilic Hadarchaeota grow on long-chain alkanes in syntrophy with methanogens.

ABSTRACT: Methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation can be carried out by archaea that couple alkane oxidation directly to methanogenesis, or by syntrophic associations of bacteria with methanogenic archaea. However, metagenomic analyses of methanogenic environments have revealed other archaea with potential for alkane degradation but apparent inability to form methane, suggesting the existence of other modes of syntrophic hydrocarbon degradation. Here, we provide experimental evidence supporting the existence of a third mode of methanogenic degradation of hydrocarbons, mediated by syntrophic cooperation between archaeal partners. We collected sediment samples from a hot spring sediment in Tengchong, China, and enriched Hadarchaeota under methanogenic conditions at 60 °C, using hexadecane as substrate. W

SUBMITTER: Yu T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11297162 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature